Nevada Commission Grants Alistair Overeem a Fight License

Alistair Overeem will officially face Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on Feb. 2 at UFC 156 after he received his fight license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

Prior to the issuance of his fight license last week, Overeem submitted five drug tests of his own accord during the course of his nine-month suspension, according to Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer. The commission also subjected the former heavyweight champion to a random drug test on Nov. 16 and Dec. 21, 2012. All test results came back negative, the Yahoo! News reports.

“I’m ready to get my life back on track,” Overeem told the commission.

Overeem was suspended for nine months after his drug test in 2012 showed a positive result for elevated levels of testosterone. His application for a fight license was denied in April, and had to wait until December to re-apply. On Jan. 8, 2013, his fight license was approved via unanimous decision.

“Today I went for my license.” Overeem told MMAjunkie. For me, it’s now back to work, back to entering the gym. I’m already basically in shape, so it’s just a couple more weeks of grinding it, and then it’s going to be showtime again.”